New ‘old’ pub bid in Ledbury rejected

A bid to open a new, “old-style” pub in a Herefordshire town has been knocked back.

The proposal to convert a disused shop in New Street in Ledbury’s conservation area into a Weavers Real Ale House was put forward for planning approval last October by the Pig Iron Brewing Co of Kidderminster.

Occupying the former Navigator clothing shop, it was have 38 table seats on the ground floor only, with no live music, only “low-level background music”, and no prepared food.

The group has already run a similar venue in Malvern since late 2021 alongside two longer-established pubs in Kidderminster.

But Herefordshire Council’s highways engineer H Rees felt that the lack of on-street parking alongside it gave rise to “significant safety concerns that could compromise the safety of pedestrians” and the flow of traffic, given the proposed delivery times.

And its senior building conservation officer Conor Ruttledge thought insufficient information had been given on how the conversion would preserve the grade II*-listed building, and was not happy with how the damp problem within it was to be addressed.

Local resident S Courtenay also objected to the noise arising from the pub’s proposed midnight closing time at weekends, saying: “We do not want more noise and traffic problems in addition to those we already have.”

Planning officer Elsie Morgan concluded that the officers’ objections provided sufficient grounds to reject the planning application and its accompanying application for listed building consent.

The pub company now has the option of appealing against the council’s decision.